Upside-down pear gingerbread by Jassy Davis
This cake is at its cosiest served warm, but it's also excellent, too. Gingerbread is always a keeper and the pears also help it stay moist. Just cover the gingerbread with foil, store it in a tin and it should keep for a week, if you can resist it.
Prep time:30 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
200g light soft brown sugar
180g butter
3-4 pears depending on sizes, peeled, cored and sliced into eight pieces
100g treacle
100g golden syrup
200g self raising flour
11/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
50g stem ginger in syrup, drained and chopped
3 medium eggs
150ml whole milk
Whipped doubled cream, to serve
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/fan oven 160°C. Place the sugar and 100g of the butter in a deep, heavy-based, 20cm wide frying pan and gently heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter has melted.
2. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Arrange the pear slices in the pan to cover the bottom and set aside. Place the remaining butter in a pan with the treacle and golden syrup and heat until melted and smooth. Set aside.
3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a bowl, then stir in the stem ginger and melted butter mixture. Whisk the eggs with the milk, then beat them into the cake batter (it will take a little bit of gentle working to get them to combine and if you\'re too vigorous you'll end up covered in milk).
4. Pour the gingerbread mixture over the pears and bake for 45 minutes or until the cake is firm and springy to the touch. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges with a palette knife, cover the cake with a plate and invert the pan to tip the cake out.
5. If there are any chunks of solid toffee left in the pan, place it over a gentle heat and warm to melt it. Add a few spoonfuls of double cream and stir until smooth and warmed through. Pour the sauce over the pear gingerbread and serve warm with whipped cream.